Salamanders Predecessor
by NightLocker
Summary: Nearby Oak Town some ruins were discovered during the Team Tenrou's absence. A letter was discovered and was finally was translated. But it reveals to be a letter for Natsu, a letter from the previous Fire Dragon Slayer. You didn't expect a dragon to only have one kid over the course of four hundred years did you?
1. Prologue

**AN: Welcome to my new story. This is the Salamander's Predecessor. I will be uploading ideally once a week, I will let you know if this changes. Please, feel free to offer what you like, whether it be OC's, cause I might plan on adding a few more, to writing advice through the reviews.**

The shack was the size of a bedroom, with a kitchen, bathroom, entry, closet, all of it was off to one side. A single bed and a desk occupied the opposite with a fireplace securing a position in the middle of the shack, allowing the heat from any fire made to spread in any and all directions.

When the front door was opened and closed swiftly, the cold mountain air barely breaking into the shack. A man, mid thirties, stood in the doorway with his orange cloak's hood flipped up and over his head, a wool neck warmer pulled up over his nose extending down past his throat, protecting his face from the bitter cold. His cloak covered down to his waist and then flowed back at a steady rate and stopped in one tip behind his calves. His black shorts went to his knees but were securely tucked into his black boots that topped off just above the knee cap.

Pulling back his hood, a man's face with not a single scar was hidden in the shadows of the shack. Not bothering to take off his boots, the man extended both arms in different directions as he walked forward. One towards the lamp that sat on his desk and one towards the fireplace in the shack. A flame emerged from each hand, dazzling red and orange danced together in perfect synchronization until they landed upon their targets. Instantly the shack was flooded with the warm glow of fire, warming up the dark, cold atmosphere of the room.

His brow was furrowed at what the oracle had told him as reward for his simple gesture of helping her defend herself from some bandits.

_**Flashback**_

Conley Drake, a strong man, wandering mage, and a honest person, walked alone down the road he took biweekly to get back to his little shack in the mountains. Which mountains? He didn't care to remember the name, he's never forgotten how to get back home. As long as that was how it stayed, he'd never have a need to remember the name.

He walked in peace, kicking a rock every few steps, sending it skittering on ahead of him. He'd recently finished a job helping clear out a few pesky thugs. Nothing challenging. _Work is getting increasingly harder. All these guilds are being created. _He thought. None of the jobs appeared at his doorstep since it would be too much of a hassle. Rather they were left in a box that had a hole in the side to drop of the job requests, he had the only key to the box. Every time he returned from a job he would open it up, gather the requests and sort through them in his home and decide on a job. It was time for another high pay job.

As he walked, a little old lady followed him. He knew she was there but there was no magical pressure surrounding her and not a trace inside even the smallest breath she made. When he rounded a bend in the road as well as a abandoned hay cart, and walked several meters past, he heard the smallest yelp erupt from the little elderly woman.

Turning around he saw three men, early twenties, stealing anything of value that they could get from her. He narrowed his eyes at the scene. The man in the middle had his hand over her mouth silencing her many attempts at shouts for help. Her wild eyes met Jakob's. He almost seemed to sigh.

Then she couldn't see him. Actually, for a moment she could only see an orange cloak before the hands that had been restraining her had suddenly disappeared.

"There you go," Conley said, continuing his way back to his homely mountain. "Have a safe trip."

She stood, mouth and lungs gasping for breath. "Wait!" She said, between mouthfuls of breath. "Let me reward you in some manner." She called, her age was clearly audible with the condition she was currently in. "Let me give you a future reading."

_Ah, so that's it huh?_ An oracle. Oracles had made a reputation to follow people every now and then, but only when they saw something of either great promise or of great reward. "I'm not interested in being a benefit to you old woman!" He called over his should.

"This prophecy has nothing to do with you, young man. But rather, it effects your successor." She rasped.

Conley froze in his tracks. "Successor to what?" He asked, fearing the answer that he was almost sure to be voiced.

The old woman peered at him, stayed quiet and sat there staring. He waited. "Will you not have the decency to answer my question?"

"Many years from now," She began, her voice thick with wisdom and foretelling. "There will be another. It's in the distant future but the world is in danger, unlike the times of peace we currently live in. But, he will not have received the full training you've received and rather has been forced away from his father and mentor who became lost to him."

A moment of silence passed. Conley did not move, and knew precisely what she spoke of. _So, he'd take on another child? _The thought made the veteran mage chuckle. "How far in the future are we talking about, old woman?"

She narrowed her eyes at the younger man, "Just because you helped me doesn't give you the right to throw away those manner's you must've been taught, boy."

"How far?" He repeated his question.

Sighing she looked at him again. A minute later she had her answer. "Approximately two hundred and fifty years from now."

Conley stood, gazing ahead. "So be it." He muttered before continuing on his way, thinking about this prophecy. _Only reason why she'd tell me that is if it would have importance. Oracles can't predict what won't be vital. _He thought, walking away with a quicker step. _I'll have to give him a little boost then._

_**Flashback ends**_

_ "Many years from now, there will be another. In the distant future, but he will not have received the full training you've had, rather his father and mentor will be lost."_

He rubbed at the five o'clock shadow he had growing as he sat down at his desk. _A note. No, a letter. A gift. _It would be a gift. The poor boy in the future would be family. Except he'd be lacking the instruction of half of the spells that his mentor and parent would-_should-_ have taught him. Sitting back, he looked at the first piece of paper that sat blank on his desk.

"Well, let's start with the basics shall we?" He mumbled before leaning forward to pick up his feather and began to write. _The year is X539..._

The year is X791. The Tenrou Island S-Class promotion trail team has returned. The entire guild is buzzing at both the excitement of the strongest members and the heart of Fairy Tail having returned as well as the announcement made by Master Makarov of the guild's participation in the Grand Magic Games.

The teams have gone their own ways. In the midst of their training, Natsu and his friends are taken by the Celestial spirits for a party, a welcome home celebration. But, at the end of the day, they've spent three Earthland weeks in the Celestial world.

"..." All the members stood facing the beach, the silence deafening to their ears.

"We've missed three weeks?" Erza mumbled, the tension rising.

"...Aye..." Happy whispered.

"WE GOTTA GET TO WORK!" Everyone shouted in unison, splitting into their own groups and instantly beginning their training once again.

But back at the guild, Levy had stayed. _Seven years! _She was still baffled. _Imagine how much new information has been discovered! New languages!_ Rather than training her magic and her abilities, she trained her vast knowledge and began her work to update her arsenal of books. She did take the odd job. So, the fourth week of being back, she decided it was time for another. This job was granted to be safe from danger. All they needed was a mage who was capable of translating ancient text! _Perfect!_

"Kinana, I'm taking this job!" She hurried over, placing the request on the bar counter.

Kinana glanced over at it before grinning and marking down the job information and the job taker. "I thought you'd be interested in that job!"

Levy returned the smile. "Thanks! I'll see you later!" And with that, she hurried away from the guild in her sandals, straight for her home so she could pack and prepare to leave.

"Gale-force glasses, extra clothes, sandals, tooth brush, reference books..." She checked items off the list as she gathered her items back in her apartment. It was small but large. Crowded yet cozy. At least thats what she thought. Others seemed to disagree once they set foot into the apartment. Upon gazing at the walls, where you could not see any walls, you'd see the shelves filled with books. As well as the several dozen stacks of books that littered her home.

_That's about it...alrighty, this job is going to be great!_ She couldn't help but think of how this job would be a nice change of pace. _Some simple translating, new relics maybe, who knows?_ She sighed happily. _No fighting above all, I maybe be a pure Fairy Tail mage through and through, but every now and then the fight needs to take a break._

She took a step outside her door with her bags in tow, she turned and locked her door. She then hurried downstairs, which wasn't very fast given her size and number of bags. Dropping off her keys at the front desk and saying 'bye' to the person working the desk, she headed to the train station. Sitting down in her chosen seat, she couldn't help but wiggle every now and then, before and after departure. _Plus, the job is in Crocus! Not very often do I get to visit the capitol!_ She grinned, her hands pressed together in between her knees.

When the train finally arrived after what seemed like an eternity, Levy dragged her books with her, out of the train car and into the station, where she was to be greeted by someone who would help fill her in about the job.

Gazing around the station she initially saw nothing, but then she noticed a man looking at the new arrivals, holding a sign that said 'Levy McGarden'. He was around Natsu's height and had silver hair that was combed over to the right. Clearly not a man that spent his time at the gym.

She approached him. "Hey, I'm Levy!" She introduced herself in her normal perky manner.

The man glanced at her. "Oh, good!" He said, tucking the sign underneath his arm, reaching forward to shake her hand. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to arrive on the next train!" He laughed. "I'm Jakob Palenski, or you can just call me Pal. Either works." He introduced himself with a nervous grin as they shook hands. _Clearly just trying to use a nickname he made for himself._ Levy couldn't help but giggle at the name.

"Great, well I'm very excited to get to work on these scripts you have," Levy started. "Mind helping me get these bags into whatever you used to get here?"

"Oh don't worry, the Museum is just a block away. We're walking there, not long." He replied, "But yes, I most certainly will help you!" He finished, reaching down to pick up one of the actually surprisingly heavy bags. "Oof! What's in here, your local library?" He said, reaching down to pick up one bag with both hands.

Levy chuckled, "Nah, a small portion of my personal collection." She said with a wink.

Jakob couldn't stop his jaw from dropping slightly. "Wh-wow-are you serious?" He asked, his mouth still agape.

"No time for this, I'm dying to start on this job!" Levy pushed past her novel hoarding-slash-collecting habits. "Now, what can you tell me about these scripts?" She asked, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Ok, so," Jakob took a deep breath. "About four or five months ago there was some ruins discovered out nearby Oak Town." He began as they walked towards the museum. "There were several known languages that we were able to translate easily. But, once we got to an area that is estimated to be the oldest part, about two or three hundred years old, we found one lone letter, written in languages that we don't understand. We can see two maybe three languages. We have no idea what they are written in. We know that translating mages are pretty difficult to come by that why we sent out a mass job request to even the now lesser guilds, like yours."

Levy couldn't help but feel slightly irked at what he implied. "Now, most of our most powerful wizards were gone for seven years, they are all back now, I'm sure you'll be hearing the name Fairy Tail a lot more now." She said, confident in her words.

"Pf, OK, yeah." Jakob said, disbelieving of the petite girl that stood infront of him. "Anyway," he said before she could retaliate. "We don't know what they contain, hence the reason we called in a translator. We need to find out what those letters are." He said as they walked into the museum.

Levy grinned as she saw the history in the building. Breathing in, her eyes glimmered with something beyond joy. "Well you've got the right girl for the job."

It's been four days. Two days longer than Levy originally expected. "What on Earthland. As frustrating this may be, this is incredible!" She said to the half awake Jakob next to her. "I've been studying ancient texts for many years, I've never seen anything like this!"

"This does not inspire confidence in me." Jakob mumbled into his elbow with his eyes closed.

"Don't you know what this means?!" She practically shook the boy. "This is a language never discovered before! If there is no translating piece in that location you found, or anything that can link these languages together, we have to essentially start from scratch." She clapped her hands together, bouncing. "Oh, this is exciting!"

"I fail to see how you are supposed to complete your job if you can't even compare this to anything related to this language." Jakob popped her bubble.

_Son of a biscuit. _Levy visibly drooped. "Well, I can tell you one thing about these texts." She hardly whispered.

Jakob jumped up. "What?! What can you tell us?"

"This," Levy pointed to one word. "Is the word 'Dragon'. It's repeated two other times in languages I know right next to it as well as using the alternate name for a dragon, a drake." She sighed, clearly disappointed with all that she's been able to uncover.

"When did you realize this?" Jakob asked, leaning over her shoulder looking at the texts.

Levy shrugged. "I remembered it around two or three days ago."

"Why didn't you say anything soon?!" Jakob practically yelled. "In a matter of days you've made more progress than we have in months! With one simple word!"

Covering her ear closest to him, she glared at Jakob. "Because I wanted to be able to report more than just 'dragon.'"

Jakob sat down in his chair and leaned back, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. "OK, break time. Clearly you've been here longer than you've anticipated or prepared for. I gotta get back to other work, you need money for food or anything?"

"But I-"

"No buts." Jakob said, setting his chair back down properly quickly, pointing a finger at her. "You've been sitting here for four days. You need to go get some rest," he started listing on his fingers. "Food, a shower, a walk or two, some social time, anything that does not involve sitting here for the next..." He looked at his watch. "...eighteen hours. That means you can get to work again at nine o'clock sharp." He got up and walked away before she could object. "You have five minutes to wrap up for the next eighteen hours."

Levy sat in her chair, staring at the door. _Dang flibbit._

Half an hour later, Levy found herself in the local market. Wandering between street stalls, looking at some new clothes, some hygienic supplies, she gathered items she needed one by one.

"Thanks!" She bowed to the lady at the stand slightly, before backing up and turning around. Into a face full of muscle. Sputtering and blushing slightly she backed up, mouth opening to apologize as she looked at the man she'd run head on into. "I'm sor-..Gajeel?" She asked, feeling her cheeks burn up even more. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Lily were training!"

Gajeel smirked slightly at the petite girl in front of him, blushing like crazy. "We are, we were training nearby Crocus and we are currently picking up supplies, much like you are by the looks of it." He said jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, to where the black exceed hovered with a sack of items.

"Hello Levy," Lily nodded.

"Hey Lily!"

"So squirt," Gajeel started again. "What are you doing in the mighty capitol?"

"Oh!" Levy straightened out. "I'm here on a translation job. I'm translating some scripts they found nearby Oak Town." Gajeel stiffened at the mentioning of his old guilds head quarters.

"What did they find?" He inquired.

"Oh, it's an ancient letter written in a language I've never seen before, nor is it related to any language I've seen. I've only recognized one word since it'd repeated in two other languages." She sighed. "How am I supposed to do the job if I can't compare it to anything?"

Gajeel looked at her. "Well, whats the word?"

Levy looked at him thoughtfully. "...Dragon or Drake, which ever you prefer."

Gajeel stopped walking and grabbed her arm. "This is a letter, right?" He asked, "and it says Dragon?"

"Yes, but-" Levy started as Gajeel pivoted to a pacing circle.

"I wonder." Gajeel pondered out loud, interrupting Levy.

Levy gave out a "hmph." Putting her hands on her hips she looked at Gajeel. "Wonder what?"

"Well, it's only been a rumor. Metalicana mentioned once of Dragon Slayer letters that he heard had been hidden." Gajeel stopped and tapped his chin. "That settles it."

"What?" Levy asked, "That settles what?"

Gajeel looked at her with a wicked grin. "Right now, I'm your best chance at helping you with your type of work."

Back at the museum, Levy walked back into the back, where Jakob sat sifting through filing cabinet. "Levy, what did I say, you still have like seventeen hours till you can work again. Now shoo," He said turning around to guide her back to the doors. "You need your rest."

"But-" Levy started.

"Like I said before, no buts." He said as he guided her through the door. Then a hand grabbed his shoulder and he looked up into the red eyes of a very tall, very muscular man. "Uh, um, hi, how can I help you?"

"Actually," Gajeel looked at him. "I'm here to help you." He stared down the smaller man before motioning with his head to the significantly smaller lady next to him. "And her."

"On the letter?" Jakob scoffed. _Yea right, he knows an ancient language._ "What do you know about ancient languages?" He asked.

"Har-" Gajeel began.

"He knows enough to actually possibly help." Levy cut in. "He is a Dragon Slayer." She added, gesturing to the metal covering his body as Gajeel let loose a grin with his canines exposed.

"Uh, well we don't-" Jakob didn't really want to let outsiders other than Levy back to the storage.

"Enough of this." Gajeel sighed and shouldered his way past Jakob with Levy right behind him.

"Hey!" Jakob shouted following after them. _Shit! _"Fine! But for a while OK? Levy has been around here for way too long and it for her health I sent her outside."

"I get ya," Gajeel agreed. "She can spend too much time indoors for her own good. Probably why you're so small right shorty?" He nudged Levy, earning a small glare but even Jakob couldn't miss the fondness and the crush that lit up her eyes every time she looked at him.

They entered the back study that had been set up for the translating mage that was hired-Levy.

"Here," Levy picked up the first page of the letter and handed it to Gajeel. "That the letter that says Dragon or Drake."

Gajeel stared at the paper, his eyes scanning it, side to side. His red eyes fixed in concentration. After a few minutes he looked up at Levy. "You can't read this?"

Narrowing her eyes she answered. "No, why, can you?"

"Yes."

"What!?" Jakob shouted. "How can an untrained translator read a language no body has ever seen?!"

"When we Dragon Slayer's were raised by our Dragons, we learned culture, how to read, how to write, everything really. That included two languages. Our common tongue and-"

"-And the language of Dragons." Levy finished.

Gajeel nodded. "Right." He still furrowed his brow, almost seeming disappointed.

"What?" Levy asked, looking at the paper in his hand. "Is it damaged?"

"No," Gajeel sighed. "It's just that this letter is not made for me."

_ For him?_ Jakob wondered. "What do you mean?"

"Surely you don't believe that each dragon only raised one child and taught them the arts of Dragon Slayer magic. After all," Gajeel said, waving a hand. "It's been four hundred years since the times of war."

"So, which dragon wrote this?" Levy asked.

"Dragon?" Gajeel snorted. "Dragon didn't write this shit. Nah, it's written by a man named Conley Drake." At this Gajeel furrowed his brows again, this time in jealousy by the looks of it.

"Is this bad?" Levy asked.

"Well, not necessarily." Gajeel sighed. "It means I won't be on par with Salamander for much longer though." He said grumpily.

"What, why not?" Levy inquired.

"Who's Salamander?" Jakob asked.

Ignoring the small research man, Gajeel continued. "It contains spells and abilities that are only useful to those of a Fire Dragon Slayer." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This damn letter was written specifically for that pink haired bastard by the previous son of Igneel, the former Fire Dragon Slayer."

Levy and Jakob, stood mouths agape at the revelation at what the letter was.

Turning around, Levy grabbed her times from all around, and began stuffing them away. "Jakob, how much does the museum want for this letter?"

"What?" Jakob couldn't believe her ears. "They aren't for sale! Especially since we know its the language of Dragons!"

"And, it's not your rightful property. It belongs to the current Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail." Levy replied not bothering to stop packing and began to reach for the letter before Jakob snatched it up.

"No, absolutely not!" Jakob shouted. "We hired you to translate this piece not translate it and then buy it!"

"It doesn't belong to you! It belongs to Natsu!"

"Well, where is his name? I don't see it anywhere!" Jakob held the letter back.

"But it's there." Gajeel said. "His name is written on the damn paper. Just in the draconic language."

"But you can't-" Jakob started before Gajeel took the letter out of his hands.

"This," Gajeel held the letter to his face. "Is NOT your property." He said fiercely. Turning away he picked up both of Levy's bags. "Lets go shrimp."

"What do you think you're doing!" Jakob shouted. "I'll report you for this!"

"Go for it!" Gajeel snapped back. "Now that all three of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers, all of the S-Class mages, a Wizard Saint and several potential S-Class mages have returned after all these years, we're still the best, we'll take you down if you try to destroy us." He finished with a huff and pushed through the final pair of doors and exited the building with Levy, headed straight for the train station.

"Why are you helping Natsu become stronger?" Levy asked. "I thought you couldn't wait to kick his butt!"

"I will have to wait. Right now, we need to train as much as we can after missing seven years." Gajeel mumbled, letting his pride leave him for the time being.

"We need to make sure Natsu can kick ass again."

**AN: So, how was it? You get what I'm aiming for? Well, follow, fav, review whatever you lads want. **


	2. Chapter 1

**A.N. ** **Here we go, chapter 1, the first was the prologue obviously. Anyway, I aim for 4-5k words, maybe 6, per chapter for a good long read. Later when I get more support I will search for a pre-reader to go over everything, correct shit etc, etc. **

**Oh! Also, I chose Conley because in Irish Gaelic it means 'purifying fire'. Then Drake for his last name since I thought it would be fitting have something related to Natsu's last name which bears resemblance to Dragon. Since Drake is the alternate word for Dragon- you see where I'm going with this.**

**On with the story of Salamander's Predecessor.**

The ride back to Mongolia had been a long one to say the least. Gajeel translated the entire letter to Levy, and what it contained baffled her. It was full of spells she'd never heard of and, the most incredible of all, physical transformations were possible for the first generation Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Lucky son of a bitch." Gajeel mumbled, half way through the fifth page. Levy was quite amazed at how quickly he was going through this letter, where as he can hardly read an entire menu after twenty minutes.

"What?" She peered over his shoulder, looking at the draconic words. "I can't read that, what does it say?" She asked slightly irritated at being unable to translate for once in her life.

"This is telling Salamander how he can actually achieve a physical transformation. It effects his throat, expanding it, actually effecting bones and increasing muscle structure to give the proper support around his throat and vocal cords while twisting those around as well." Gajeel translated steadily, "It enables the pink haired bastard to either increase the destructive power of his Fire Dragon's Roar three times it's current effect without consuming more magic power, or he can imitate the roar of a real Dragon." Gajeel barely whispered the last part. "It's not much of a spell. 'Imitate.' But it'll take him weeks to achieve that spell."

_Wow. _Levy let out a small gasp. _To imitate a dragon's roar? And to increase the power of his normal roar WITHOUT consuming additional magic power?_ "So that means if he used that and modified it for his Lightening Flame Dragon Mode..." Levy trailed off at the notion of such destructive force.

Gajeel nodded sulkily. "He'd have the power to easily destroy an entire city..."

"God damn it, Salamander!"

Having arrived at Magnolia, Gajeel and Levy raced to the guild. _We need to find out where Natsu and the others went!_ Levy pushed forward, trying to keep up with the faster pace of her larger companion and his flying exceed. "H-hey, thi-think you could- slow- down?" She asked between gasps, to which a gruff rumble emerged from Gajeel's throat followed by a nod. Indeed Gajeel did slow for her to catch up.

Once they arrived at the mighty doors, they burst in as quickly as possible.

Seeing the master seated on the bar, Levy spun on her heels and turned to his direction running. "Master!"

"Levy? I must say you were gone longer than we expected." Makarov put down his mug. "And why is Gajeel here? I thought you were supposed to be training." Makarov inquired, an eyebrow quirked. "Have you two been spending your time 'training' together or-"

"No!" Levy gasped while Gajeel shifted his foot uncomfortably. Her face now red, Levy took a breath. "No, not at all. We just happened to bump into each other when I was on my job. The reason for why the job took longer was because it was not a human language I was hired to translate." She said, waving the letter in her hand, earning a cocked eyebrow from the Master. "It's the language of dragons." She stated putting the letter down on the bar counter.

"Oh? I'm guessing thats where Gajeel got involved?" He asked, shifting his normal crossed arms to a position displaying interest.

Levy nodded vigorously. "Yes!"

"I see." Makarov nodded, understanding mostly. "But what is most curious is why do you hold the letter that a museum found..." He silently asked the question.

"I took it." Gajeel spoke for the first time since arriving. "It's not theirs."

"Foolish boy! It's not ours either!" Makarov scolded, reaching out for the letter.

"But it belongs to one of us!" Levy interjected, pulling it back to herself, her words making the Master pause his advance.

Silence fell upon the meeting. "How old is this letter?" Makarov asked, retracting his arm to his side.

"It's around two hundred and fifty years old." Levy responded honestly.

"So, how could a two hundred and fifty year old letter be addressed to one of Fairy Tail members, in the language of Dragons nonetheless."

"It's written in the language of dragons so only those raised by them can understand it." Gajeel said. "It's an ancient language that is hidden in plain view but people don't recognize it as a language. That how the dragons wanted it. But this-" he gestured to the letter with a gloved hand. "is made specifically for Salamander."

"Natsu?" Makarov's brow deepened in thought once again. "Who could have written a letter to Natsu over two hundred years ago?"

"It was the former Fire Dragon Slayer," Levy said, "a man named Conley Drake."

"There was a another one? So why have you brought it here?" Makarov questioned.

"We came here to find Salamander's location, these spells are only useful for him, but they will increase is magic ability, strength and power double, hell, maybe even triple what it is now." Gajeel mumbled, still frustrated about the letter not being his predecessor.

"Well, it has been a few weeks since anyone has seen them. They still have about two months left. Maybe just over." Makarov stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "We must get Natsu's location. Kinana, where did they head to?" He questioned the barmaid.

"They went fifteen miles west, to the resort city Tri Front."

Makarov nodded his thanks before turning back to Gajeel and Levy. "Very well, hurry, get to Natsu and the others, fast. Gajeel, I insist- no, I order you, stay and train with Natsu."

"Wha- hey! I'm not helping smoke breath!" Gajeel protested.

"PantherLily is a strong exceed, there is no question." Makarov stopped the young Iron Dragon Slayer. "But there is no arguing the fact that Natsu is the stronger opponent. Pantherlily maybe on similar ground with Erza in sword combat but that does not change that Natsu's acrobatic skills are better. Not to mention, Gajeel," Makarov used the name to enforce his position, "that you beat Lily in a fight, and before that, Natsu beat you pretty good too."

"Stupid bullshit is what that fight was." Gajeel mumbled to himself sulking at the floor. _Great, not only do I get to watch the pink-haired fuck get a larger arsenal, I get to help him master it!_

"Now," Makarov started once again, looking at the two young mages, "Get going! We have no time to waste, we need to catch up on everyone else for these past five years!" He pointed to the door, encouraging them to leave quickly and get to Natsu as soon as possible.

Watching the two mages and the black exceed fly out of the guild hall, Makarov let out a small chuckle. _Those kids, always find themselves something. But, spells to double or even triple Natsu's current abilities? Hell, I can see the Fairy Tail emergency funds being emptied already. _He shuddered at the thought.

Once again, they rode a train to their destination, this time to the west to Tri Front. On the way they had covered the letter once again. Gajeel was a bit rusty reading Draconic since he hadn't a use for the ability for a long, long time. But he managed to read it all with some effort, it just took some time. They discovered another spell for Natsu. It was a defensive spell. A spell that would be useful against skilled weapon wielding opponents. It was called 'Fire Dragon's Hide.' When activated it would cause his senses to increase to such a level that his body would anticipate the landing of a strike before his mind would process it. His body would then take action and cause his flames to raise to such an extreme level that it would begin to solidify, into magma. "Once it has reached this magma state, and has covered the targeted location it will cool instantly, sheathing himself in a layer of obsidian that will protect him like armor." Gajeel finished.

"Wow." Levy breathed. So much power for Natsu. "We'll win the Games, no doubt about it."

"Maybe, but I still don't get my fuckin' letter." Gajeel mumbled.

"Lighten up, Gajeel," Pantherlily said, sitting across from the duo. "I'm sure you'll get yours eventually."

Turning away, facing out the window, Gajeel mumbled a "yea, yea," in response.

Arriving at the town, they put Gajeel's nose to the test.

"Well, can you smell him?" Levy asked impatiently, anxious to get on the move again.

"No, lets try wandering. I might be able to catch something of him while moving around."

Eight minutes later, walking through a neighbourhood, when a familiar scent tickled his nose. "Happy is nearby-" Gajeel began, looking to his left when he was cut off by Happy's shout.

"Found him Natsu!" Happy cried.

Shortly after that, Natsu rounded the same corner. "I knew I could smell rust!" He shouted, his hand ablaze, charging at Gajeel.

Dodging the incoming fist, Gajeel punched the Fire Dragon Slayer in the abdomen, momentarily forcing Salamander to take a minute to regain his wind. Levy took this moment and stepped in between the two. "Natsu, no more, we are just here to talk." Levy stopped the Fire Dragon Slayer from stepping forward again.

"Levy, Gajeel!" Another voice shouted, down the same alley that Natsu came from. Lucy was jogging along with Erza and Gray right beside her. Wendy and Carla followed close behind. "What are you doing here?" Lucy asked as she stopped next to the small bluenette.

"It has to do with a letter that I was hired to translate." Levy began, "Except, I couldn't read it. ANY of it. Until Gajeel helped me."

"What?" Gray asked, whacking Natsu on the back, hard, hoping to spare everyone of the idiot for a while longer. "What help could Gajeel give you with translating?"

Gajeel growled, "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're bad at reading," Lucy ended their argument quickly. Turning back to Levy, "So what do you mean? How did Gajeel help?"

"It was written in Draconic." Gajeel mumbled, causing Natsu to instantly latch his eyes onto the letter.

"No-"wheez "way" wheez "in" wheez "hell-" Natsu started before Gray snapped. "Just catch your damn breath first!"

"This entire letter," Levy looked Natsu dead in the eye. "Is for you. It's from your predecessor, the last Fire Dragon Slayer, Conley Drake."

"What?!" The entirety of Team Natsu gasped at the revelation.

In a flash, Natsu was up, breath caught and all, with the letter in hand as he read through each and every single page at a remarkable speed for Natsu standards. He began reading as more chatter stirred up around him.

_The year is X539. My name is Conley Drake. This is written in the language of Dragons, Drakes, and or, Serpents, this language is Draconic. I am the Fire Dragon Slayer of my time, adopted son of the Fire Dragon, Igneel. I write this letter to my successor, Natsu Dragneel. _

_ Natsu, I write this letter due to a prediction made by an Oracle of my time, as payment of my helping her out on the road. That's not important. What she told me is. She mentioned that you were abandoned. Igneel isn't there for you is he?_

_ A shame. The old bastard. He left me for a while too, but not to the extent of which I'm being told you are experiencing. What's worse is that you've also haven't been taught the full extent of your arsenal of spells. Well, good news. I'm writing this to teach you these. Some will be Secret Arts, others will be normal spells, except they will be either very dangerous and powerful or the magic power consumption rate will be high. These would be the only reasons for Igneel's lack of teaching you these spells. Let's get to work._

_ The first spell is Fire Dragons: Imitate. This spell will allow you to triple the devastating power of your Fire Dragon's Roar and will allow you to Imitate the roar of a Dragon itself. Caution, this spell will take many days if not, weeks to master. It will be a painful practice. Bones will have to realign and muscles will be forced into positions they would never be meant to stretch. This spell is a boost for your roar only. On the bright side, it doesn't consume any more magic power that you currently use with your Roar._

_ Practice this spell first. _

Natsu could hardly believe it. "Hell yes!"

"What is it?" Lucy asked him.

"A spell! A bunch of spells!" He hollered, flipping through the pages. "All from the the Corny Fake guy, more spells that Igneel never got to teach me!"

Lucy peered over his shoulder looking at the letter. "'Some will be Secret Arts, others will be normal spells, except they will be either very dangerous and powerful or the magic power consumption rate will be high. These are the only reasons for Igneel's lack of teaching you these spells.'" She mumbled out.

"Natsu." Erza turned on the giddy pink haird Dragon Slayer. "We need all the power we can get with these couple months lefts. But I do insist you exercise caution, if these are dangerous spells, you will have to leave the area, this place is too populated for you to practice such spells."

"Good idea." Levy nodded. "By the way Natsu," She turned to face him. "Gajeel is here to train with you and help you with these spells."

"Damn it, I was hoping you'd have forgotten." Gajeel growled.

"Not a chance."

"I don't want to work metal-head!" Natsu protested.

A smashing fist from a specific S-Class wizard quickly changed Natsu's mind. And a bit of persuading from Levy got Gajeel mumbling about how he'd get her back for this.

"Right people. We have two months left till the Grand Magic Games." Erza said, addressing the group. "Lets get to work."

And so they separated. Natsu and Gajeel had PantherLily, Lucy, Happy, and Levy follow them. They walked several miles out of civilization and even had the exceeds quickly ensure they were far away from even a cottage. OK, more like Lucy and Levy made them.

Then the training began.

Day Three.

"OK, dumbass. Try the Imitate spell." Gajeel snickered. "This is gonna hurt so fuckin' much." Gajeel clearly doubted Natsu's ability in being able at completing the spell. Gajeel claimed it would take Natsu at least another week and a half to get any progress with the spell.

Natsu stepped into the middle of a clearing he'd made the day before using his normal roar. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and calmed himself as much as possible. Just like the three other mages had been drilling him to do, just in case he was to injure himself.

"Fire Dragon's: Imitate." He said, clear and strong, summoning his magic power into his stomach and up his throat, allowing it to begin the process of making the changes to successfully complete the transformation. The flames first licked at the muscles and wrapped around the throat, both inside and outside, everyone able to witness his flames working on his body.

"AhhhhghHGH!" Natsu cried out. The muscles made a sudden, drastic shift and were protruding into the centre of his throat. He felt several muscles split apart, making gaps in between strings. His eyes widened and he took a deep breath, and tried to grasp oxygen and maintain consciousness. "Hghgh...AGHghghgH!" His voice wavered to different tones and at one point sounded brutally animalistic.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted from the side, about to move forward, Levy still in her place, eyes wide in shock at what was happening. Gajeel grabbed Lucy and pulled her back from the growing flames around Natsu and the scorching heat.

"OK, we need to get farther back." Gajeel announced. "He's about to blast." _That much power built up cannot be swallowed back down, not by someone like him._ With that thought he grabbed both Levy and Lucy and took off, Happy being dragged by PantherLily.

"AGHhhGHhghg!" Natsu screamed, his mini fire tornado that was once restricted to his upper body, now swallowed his entire body and anything within two feet of his body. A bone grew into his throat through the gaps in the muscle tissue that appeared. It wrapped around the edge giving the final touch of the support he would need to complete a Dragons Roar spell as well as imitate the roar of a dragon.

Gajeel found the nearest edge-like obstacle and threw both of the girls ahead of him to the other side of what would provide as their barrier. Happy and Pantherlily flew past at their Max Speed, PantherLily grabbing Gajeel along the way, getting behind cover just in time.

Natsu's cries of pain could no longer be recognized and to everyone it sounded like an animal. Except for Gajeel. Gajeel heard the faint familiar rumble of a Dragon. That's when it happened. Natsu took in a sharp, deep breath and exhaled. It was not air he let out from his lungs though. It was a blazing flame, and it incinerated everything within fifty meters of Natsu.

The blistering heat rained upon the trio and the exceeds as they remained behind their cover, the flames roaring past them. Then, it all stopped.

Gajeel looked over the edge, resting his hand on top only to immediately pull it away, some of his skin heavily burned. "Shit." He hissed, holding his hand in pain. "Unless you guys have some hella thick boots, don't walk out to the fire head just yet."

"Happy!" Lucy shouted.

"Aye!" Happy flew down to Lucy and grabbed her and began flying out to Natsu.

It only took them a minute to find Natsu once the intense steam cleared. He was standing in the same position he had been in moments ago, looking at the damage he'd done.

"I-I did this?" He asked, shocked. "It was barely more than a trickle of fire that had fallen from my mouth..." He reached for his throat before glancing at his hands.

"Natsu!" He heard Lucy shout. He looked around before looking up to the sky. Happy grasped Lucy, both of them had worry etched across their faces. "Are you alright?"

"...Hell yea!" Natsu cheered. "Look at what I did!" He started dancing around. "That just a little more than a cough!"

Gajeel, Levy and Lucy staggered at the news. "You didn't even roar?" Levy asked cautiously.

"Nah, THIS," Natsu said, "is a roar." He took a deep breath, looking straight up into the sky. "**Fire Dragon's Roar!**"A pillar of fire emerged from Natsu's reinforced throat, piercing the day's sky and punching through the clouds. It radiated power and light to be seen and felt from miles around.

"Holy shit." Gajeel mumbled. Levy could only nod in agreement.

"Natsu, how can you be this more powerful?" Lucy whispered.

After the fire died down from Natsu's throat he fell to his knees, one hand on his throat, coughing furiously.

"Jackass!" Gajeel shouted, stumbling over the still hot ground. "You shouldn't be practising that, that's the first time you've used that spell, not to mention you've just rearranged your throat!" He walked over to the pink haired mage as Levy and Lucy raced past to make sure Natsu was fine.

"Ow." Natsu mumbled wincing. "Well, practice makes perfect." He said, giving off his grin, chuckling.

"Well, if you really want to impress me, roar like your Dragon." Gajeel said, standing with his hands on his waist.

"Well, I don't know ho-"

"Doesn't fuckin' matter." Gajeel cut him off. "Do it. You'll know how. Probably."

Levy and Lucy backed up as they saw Natsu stand himself up and taking a deep breath in preparation to let his animal instincts kick in. Breath in, breath out. But no magic tickled his throat in any different manner to convince him.

"I can't feel anything. I need to feel something in order to perform it."

"What like pain?" Gajeel said, cracking his knuckles.

"Sadness?" Lucy suggested.

"Anger?" Levy pitched in.

"Probably the last two." Happy said.

"Yea," Lucy turned to Natsu. "OK, think of something that got you really angry or sad."

So, Natsu began digging through his memories. Loosing Igneel, saddening. A little spark picked up in part of the new formation in his throat. Meeting Lucy, neither. Erza crying, infuriating. The spark grew into a flame. The war with Phantom Lord, angering. It burst into a little blaze, wavering from side to side in his throat, dancing on the back of his tongue. Laxus' attempt at taking over Fairy Tail, disregarding his family, unfathomable. Natsu felt what he needed. He took a breath in and let out what felt to him to be a cry of anguish, pain and anger.

It was not like that with the others. The others heard the war cry of a beast, ready to destroy. It sounded mostly like a Dragon to Gajeel. Of course it being a first attempt at the spell, Natsu didn't have it dead on. But it was damn close. It even left Gajeel stunned and frozen as memories of Metalicana flashed through his head.

Natsu, although not having used so much magical energy, had used a lot of physical energy during the transformation, and collapsed to the ground in heap of snores.

"He's earned that rest I think." Levy stated.

"Or he's being a little bitch." Gajeel mumbled.

**A.N. So. I take back my word about updating weekly ideally. If you've noticed it's been what, three? Anyway, terribly sorry for making you wait so long. Life has been a little bit shitty lately. Unfortunately this chapter isn't as long as the first one but I aimed for 4k words. Close enough. Enjoy.**


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